In modern Internet Protocol (IP) networks, there may be no consistent or uniform way to add “high-touch” services, or other services or features, to the network. Each unique service is typically added in a service-specific manner. Due to complexities in deployment and management, potential services may be foregone because of a lack of a consistent, inter-service architecture. As a result, such systems can suffer: (i) higher deployment costs; (ii) lower network availability; (iii) modified network topology; (iv) additional complexity in network operations and management; and/or (v) inability to use certain services in enterprise, commercial, or service provider networks.
Conventional approaches can include adding features to a forwarding path, providing hardware alterations (e.g., adjusting cable connections, or adding external devices), or performing other static configuration changes, software traces, and/or internal routing to add services to a network. However, such conventional approaches typically differ for different services, and thus may not provide a consistent, inter-service architecture for adding services to a network.